Mallorca Property Partners Blog

Building your dream home from scratch or transforming an existing property to your design are creative enterprises that can be both financially and personally rewarding. They are also time consuming and invariably involve quite a bit of stress and hassle. When planning such projects a key consideration is how to minimize this; how to keep to the time schedule while maintaining high standards and keeping within budget.

One option is to use a project manager. This role has evolved relatively recently in Mallorca as more projects have been taken on by foreigners not best placed to manage things directly themselves. The project manager plans and oversees all aspects of the work from start to finish.

Project managers in Mallorca

The alternative is to manage the project yourself, appointing an architect, structural engineer (often referred to as the technical architect), builders, electricians etc.

Indeed this may be the best option, but is recommended only to those who have handled building projects before, are familiar with the island, speak Spanish and have plenty of time to be on-site to oversee things.

For anyone else a project manager is arguably essential. On the surface this adds to the costs as they normally charge 10% on top of the cost of the project. Some charge a flat fee.

Part of their role however is to know where to buy materials and obtain good discounts. They should also keep you to schedule and ensure quality standards are maintained. Without this management in place your costs and timing can easily overrun and standards can fall. So it is likely that a good project manager will save you money when all things are taken into account.

Choose contractors wisely

Having said this not all project managers are to be recommended. They range from individuals working independently to companies employing sizable regular teams. Some are highly experienced professionals and others are not. Choosing badly could create more problems than not having a project manger in the first place!

Our advice is to always start by seeking recommendations from people you know and trust. When you have some candidates shortlisted you should ask to see projects they have managed in the past. If there are none be wary!

You should not make any commitment until you are perfectly clear as to how your project will be managed. You should understand all the key steps and who will be responsible for each stage.

You need to understand how the quote works too. It may detail costs for everything including supplies and subcontractors, or some elements of the project might be subject to separate quotes in which case you should get a clear idea of these other elements before going ahead.

If anything is unclear then ask for it to be clarified. If your Spanish is not great make sure their English is good enough to go into the details in a way you understand – this is certainly not an area to muddle through a conversation pretending you understand. If you do there there will most likely be problems on the horizon!

It is usually sensible to get more than one proposal. This may take a bit of time but it will give you more confidence in your final choice. It is far better to get this right at the outset than discover you have made a bad choice part way through.

You might also find it useful to involve your accountant or lawyer at an early stage. They can help ensure you monitor and record costs in the best way. Many costs can be offset against capital gains tax if you sell the property in the future. Often people do not keep proper records and are unable to take advantage of this.

However you decide to manage your project success usually comes down to keeping a level head and making sensible choices in the people you use. Hopefully this article gives you some initial pointers and, if you are looking for a new build or renovation opportunity, get in touch and we will help further.

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